In Macedon, war rises like smoke,
forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn
an empire to dust

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his
kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new
threat.

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must
conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the
two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt.

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the
ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to
Macedon's undoing.

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit
Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and
deadly—captor.

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of
history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler,
Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
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My Review:Normally my reviews include a bit of a recap, but since you've got that with the "official" synopsis above, I'll try to stick to my specific thoughts. I do want to link you back to my review of the first book, Legacy of Kings, first, because I'm going to try to connect this review to parts of that one as much as possible. One kind of interesting thing that was happening while I was reading this, is that the audiobook I was listening to also had to do with a historical fiction take on Alexander the Great as well, and so it was fun to think about the different parts of each book as I was listening to, or reading the other.

As with the first book, there is a pretty large cast of characters to keep up with. But what the author is great at, is writing each of them so that you can tell exactly whose point of view that chapter is. And for the most part, each of the characters' first chapter in this book gave you a review of what had happened in the last book, or at least refreshed your memory, but without doing it in a totally awkward and obvious way. There wasn't too much with Alex and his sister Katerina together in this book. And Alex's best friend, Heph, is not on Alex's good side at the moment, after killing a major character in the battle in the last book, that Alex had wanted brought in alive. So Katerina and Heph are on a mission for Alex, to try to find other soldiers or armies to come back to help defend Alex's kingdom, since Alex's father is off on his own pursuit to advance their kingdom. Alex must show the people that he can be a good leader. And at first he relies on some people to advise him that aren't quite the best people to listen to. Jacob, Katerina's betrothed from back home, is sure that she must be dead, after he left her on the battlefield with a fatal wound from the man that was the leader of his group, the Aesarian Lords, also the enemies of Alexander.

Of course there will be betrayal from family, Alex's mother Olympias, the head Aesarian Lord, Bastion, Alex's sister Cynane. There will be gods, and monsters, and the search for magical creatures like the Pegasus. Zofia, the princess who ran away before she could be sent to marry Alexander, because she was in love with one of her father's soldiers, will find out there is more to the man who ended up kidnapping her and using her to try to find the Pegasus. There will be deaths, some that Alexander will be the cause of, some that Olympias will be the cause of, and others that will just be a part of the normal events in war and countries at odds in this ancient time. There will even be at least one death that isn't final, that the person gets another chance, to be good or do evil, that is what we will see.

Once again I fell in love with the characters in this series, as well as the beautiful world and all that the author has included in it. And I'm now left anxiously awaiting the third book!!

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About Eleanor:
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Before the
Game of Thrones craze swept the nation, Eleanor Herman was hard at
work entertaining readers with her extensive research on courtly intrigue and
romance. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings, as
well as three other works of nonfiction: Sex with the Queen, Mistress of the
Vatican, and King Peggy.

Obsessed by
all things royal and historical, she lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband
and four extremely dignified cats. Legacy of Kings was her first novel.

Imagine a
time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the
hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time
when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering
his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to
newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while
hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to
unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with
Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia,
a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by
seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New
York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor
the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood
of Gods and Royals series.

8 comments:

Glad to know the characters in this series are wonderful. I like that it's kind of like a 'retelling' of Alexander the Great. Very nice review! :)@dino0726 from FictionZeal - Impartial, Straightforward Fiction Book Reviews

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